Zootaxa 3972 (2): 250–266 ISSN 1175-5326 (print edition) www.mapress.com/zootaxa/ Article ZOOTAXA Copyright © 2015 Magnolia Press ISSN 1175-5334 (online edition) http://dx.doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.3972.2.6 http://zoobank.org/urn:lsid:zoobank.org:pub:8D47A1B5-5AB3-4570-BC70-4CD81B340A87 Colobognatha millipedes in the Caucasus (Diplopoda: Polyzoniida, Platydesmida, Siphonocryptida)
SERGEI GOLOVATCH1,4, ALEKSANDR EVSYUKOV2 & HANS S. REIP3 1Institute for Problems of Ecology and Evolution, Russian Academy of Science, Leninsky pr. 33, Moscow 119071, Russia 2Lyceum No. 1 “Classical”, Balakireva Str. 32, Rostov-on-Don 344004, Russia 3Senckenberg Museum of Natural History, Görlitz, Am Museum 1, D-02826 Görlitz, Germany 4Corresponding author: E-mail: [email protected]
Abstract
The superorder Colobognatha is represented in the Caucasus by three genera and species, one each in the orders Polyzoni- ida, Platydesmida and Siphonocryptida. Hirudisoma roseum (Victor, 1839) (Hirudisomatidae, Polyzoniida) is especially widespread, ranging from S Russia, Abkhazia, Georgia (with a neotype designated and described from Kakhetia, E Geor- gia) and NW Azerbaijan to E Turkey, and also including H. ponticum (Lohmander, 1939) (junior subjective synonym, syn. nov.). Fioria hyrcana Golovatch, 1980 (Andrognathidae, Platydesmida) is endemic to the Hyrcanian parts of the Republic of Azerbaijan and NW Iran along the western and southern coasts of the Caspian Sea. Due to the finding of Hirudicryptus abchasicus sp. nov. (Siphonocryptidae, Siphonocryptida), from a single locality in Abkhazia, NW Caucasus, the order Siphonocryptida is new to the fauna of the region. A key to all four species of the trans-Palaearctic genus Hirudicryptus is given. All three Caucasian species of Colobognatha are described in due detail and abundantly illustrated, and their dis- tributions mapped.
Key words: Polyzoniida, Platydesmida, Siphonocryptida, taxonomy, new species, new synonymy, neotype, key, distribu- tion, map, Russia, Abkhazia, Georgia, Azerbaijan, Turkey, Iran
Introduction
The diplopod superorder Colobognatha Brandt, 1833 is known to comprise four small orders: Polyzoniida, Platydesmida, Siphonocryptida and Siphonophorida (e.g. Shear 2011). Only the former two orders contain not only tropical or subtropical, but also temperate species. Moreover, one of the species of the boreal genus Angarozonium Shelley, 1997 (Polyzoniidae, Polyzoniida) is especially widespread across Siberia and represents perhaps the northernmost range limit for the whole class Diplopoda (Mikhaljova 2004, Shelley and Golovatch 2011). Only two genera and species of Colobognatha have hitherto been reported from the Caucasus and adjacent parts of NW Iran: Hirudisoma roseum (Victor, 1839) (Hirudisomatidae, Polyzoniida) and Fioria hyrcana Golovatch, 1980 (Andrognathidae, Platydesmida). The present paper provides their richly illustrated redescriptions and numerous new faunistic records, also summarizing and updating the nomenclatural history and distributions of both these species. In addition, the relict order Siphonocryptida is found in the region for the first time, being represented there by a new species.
Material and methods
A large material of both Hirudisoma roseum and Fioria hyrcana has been amassed by the first author, now mostly housed in the Zoological Museum of the Moscow State University (ZMUM), Moscow, Russia. A few additional samples have been accumulated by the second and third authors, now retained in their private collections in Rostov-on-Don and Jena, referred to below as (AE) and (HR), respectively. One sample belongs to the Institute of
250 Accepted by W. Shear: 4 May 2015; published: 11 Jun. 2015